The shop went silent again.
He couldn’t stay here.
Oliver grabbed his keys and let himself out the back.
21
Nick was dead asleep when his phone chimed. He fumbled for it and turned the alarm off. He hadn’t slept well, even worse than usual. Too many mixed-up dreams with Hayden, Anya, and Oliver. Brian had even appeared in one wearing a chicken suit right before Nick’s alarm had gone off.
A shower helped, the hot water pouring over his skin. Oliver’s shower, with Oliver in it with him, would have been better.
Maybe he should let Oliver talk to Hayden after all. If nothing else, Hayden was going to have to get used to Oliver being in Nick’s life.
Except what would that look like? They were all still in this house—him, Hayden, and Anya—with no sign the situation would change any time soon. So Oliver would be what? Always on the outside? Always somewhere Nick snuck off to for a few hours on his days off or between shifts?
He rested his forehead on the cool tile wall. They would make it work. Oliver had stuck with him so far. If a trashed SUV hadn’t sent him packing, a few awkward living arrangements weren’t going to stop him, would they?
He toweled off and went back to his room to dress. Two-thirty was so much earlier than he wanted to be awake, but Hayden needed to be picked up from school soon.
On his nightstand, the phone rang.
Disappointment burned when Oliver’s name didn’t show up on the screen. Maybe Nick would try to stop by the store before work again tonight. “Hey, Anya.”
“Nick?” Her voice made him pause.
“Yeah.”
“Where have you been? I’ve been calling.”
“I was asleep. Sorry, I just woke up. I have to go get Hayden soon.”
A strange sound over the phone made Nick’s blood go cold. He gripped the towel at his waist and sat gently on the edge of the bed.
“What’s wrong?” he asked. The sound came again, and Anya was definitely crying. “What happened?”
“Hayden.” Her voice trembled and died.
Nick’s grip on the phone was tight enough to make his knuckles ache, and his toes dug into the carpet. “What about him?”
“They arrested him.” She sobbed and then gasped in a breath.
Nick sighed. He’d been waiting for this, even if he hadn’t realized it until this moment. Somehow, he’d been expecting this phone call for months. “What for?”
“I don’t know. They said something about theft. I have to leave work. They’ve taken him to the police station.”
“I’ll meet you there.” He was already moving, pulling clothes from the dresser.
“They’re going to take him away. I’m so scared.”
“I know. Don’t do anything until I get there. He’s a minor. They can’t question him until one of us is there with him.”
“I don’t think they’re questioning. They sounded pretty sure. Nick! We’re going to lose him.”
Nick bit his lip. She needed him to be strong. She needed him to take care of them. “I have to make a call. Don’t say anything until I get there.”
* * *
“So let me get this straight.” Seb was in his living room, pacing in hurried circles around his couch.
